As The Year Turns

And what a year it's been.

I'm looking back on all my grand plans, trying to figure out if I should be disappointed in myself for not meeting all my goals, or satisfied with what I DID get done.

Suffice to say, I wanted to be done with Jesse #4 by now.  I'm not.  The last two months has been a total wash, though I will say that I think I've made a brainstorming breakthrough and I'll be starting back up with the writing again probably as soon as I finish this post.  I'm so very close, if I can just get over this little bump.  I know how it ends, I just have to get there.

I fully admit, my writing was a victim of stress in other areas of my life.  I know that I've mentioned my Real Job(tm) before.  Well, for the last....oh, probably two years, if I'm being honest...I've not been happy with the Real Job(tm).  In fact, I've been scrambling to get clear of there.  Sadly, I'm not in a position where writing full time is feasible, financially, so getting clear of one job requires a new job.  And in the industry where I work, that's easier said than done right now.

However, over the last three months, I managed to apply/interview/finally get hired at a new place!  I'm simultaneously thrilled and terrified.  I mean, I worked at my old job for eight and a half years.  It's been a while since I had to get all dressed up and go make new friends.  But it'll be fine.  It has to be.  At the very least, it can't be any worse.

So, last day at the Old Job was yesterday, and my first day at the New Job is Monday.

New Job schedule is slightly different (Old Job started at 7 a.m., New Job starts at 8:30 a.m.), but I think I'm going to parlay that into some early morning writing time.  I recall that when I was working on The Musicbox Girl, my Saturday mornings were very productive.  No one in the house is up, it's quiet, I'm not exhausted...  It sounds worth a try.

Also, I find it very poetic that the winter days were getting darker right up until I quit the Old Job, and now when I start the New Job, the days will be getting lighter.  Happy Solstice, everyone!

So.  Goals for the new year:

January - Finish JJD#4, get it out to betas.  I'm about 30K words from the end of a first draft.  Once the holidays are past, I'm going to buckle down and knock this thing out.

January 21st - Peacemaker release.  Advance reviews are trickling in so far, and people seem to like it!  This makes me happy.  It's a fun little story, not intended to change the world, and I hope people enjoy it.  I should probably come up with some promotion events centered around that, but honestly I'm a bit tapped out of ideas given the absence of actual physical copies.  So if anyone has a thing they want me to do, let me know!

February/March - I will be revising The Musicbox Girl per my Lovely Agent's advice.  Kinda looking forward to getting my hands back into this story.  I will also be hopefully assembling beta reader notes on JJD#4 and once MBG is done, go through the Jesse book again.

April - Find an editor & cover artist for JJD#4.  My actual release date for that book will depend on deadlines for these two things.  Starting to look like a summer release for the book, which is apt, since the first three always came out in summer.

Rest of the Year - I want to start outlining/drafting Arcane West #2 (a sequel to Peacemaker).  I also want to start working on a new project that has been driving me nuts called Valkyrie, Inc.  It'll be a little different than some of my other stuff, but it feels like it's going to be fun and I'm excited about it.

Hoping that I can get MBG into a shape where Lovely Agent will want to start subbing it.  She also has Muse to read, and I'm hoping to find out if she wants to try subbing that too, or if I'll be trying to self-pub that one.  Also hoping to make a decision on whether or not to self-pub Night of Fire and Ash, but if I did that, I'd officially have three series going at once, and that way lies madness.  So that one's going to take a bit of thinking.

And of course, once JJD#4 is done, I need to move on to #5.  There will be six Jesse books in the end, and I'm very devoted to finishing the series.  It's just something I need to do at this point.


As we've seen, my best laid plans often go awry, but I like having a starting point from which to veer off dramatically.

Happy Winter-Holiday-Event-of-Your-Choice, and may the New Year be fabulous for us all!

It's all about the tease...

I'm gonna quit apologizing for not updating the blog.  Most of you are stalking me on Twitter & Facebook anyway, right?  (And if not, why not?)

So, what's going on with me?

Well, I'm working feverishly on JJD4, and I'm pretty sure I actually have a title now!  I know, I know, I've said that before, but I've actually started using this one around the house, and I still don't hate it, so I think it's going to stick.  I'll announce it soon, hopefully in conjunction with finishing the first draft of the book.  Don't think I'm gonna make my November 1 deadline, but that's mostly because I should have copy edits coming in on Peacemaker sometime next week, and then I've only got two weeks to turn those around.

(Copy edits are not as fearsome as they sound.  I actually rather enjoy it, and I hope to have them turned around over a single weekend)

Unfortunately, that particular weekend also coincides with some major system upgrades at the Real Job, so it's entirely possible that I may be trapped doing stuff for them too.  Bleh.

Once I get JJD4 done, and Peacemaker copy edits turned in, I'll be returning to The Musicbox Girl to see if I can revise it per my lovely agent's input.  At the same time, I'll be starting the process of getting cover art commissioned for JJD4, and lining up some editing and such so that I don't totally embarrass myself.

Hm...let's see, I feel like I was supposed to do something else...

Oh wait, that's it!

Speaking of cover art...  Here's Peacemaker!

(Yes, I totally made you read all the way through my blog post to get to see the cover.  I am bad, and I should feel bad.)

Peacemaker will be out January 21, 2014, and is available for preorder now.  Remember that it's going to be an ebook-only thing first, and then if I have enough sales, they'll think about doing it in print.

It always feels more real once there's a cover...

The Latest and Greatest

Once again, my lack of posting astounds even me.  In my defense, though, I've been working.  Like, actual writing working, not Real Job working (though I've been doing that too)

So, what's been going on?

Well, I took the entire month of June to do edits on Peacemaker, and turned those in two whole days early.  Go me!  And just this week, I got an email back from my wonderful editor saying that those revisions have been accepted, so Peacemaker's almost a finished product, and that's a bit of stress off my mind.  Granted, I've never had revisions NOT accepted, but a little part of me is always fearful that she's going to come back and say "this is the suckiest thing in the history of sucky things that suck, do it over".

Right now, I'm working on JJD4.  I'm about 11K words into it, which doesn't seem like very much, 'cause it isn't.  But I've been writing almost every day, even if it's just a little bit, and I'm really starting to sink back into the world again.  It's kinda comfy there, like a big pillow.  A big, fluffy, demon-infested pillow.

I'm still struggling with a title for it.  I thought I had one, months ago, but the more I think about it, the less I like it, so it's back to the drawing board.  Figure, if I'm self-publishing it, I can come up with a title whenever I feel like it, right?

Been learning a lot about self-publishing over these past few months, too.  It's starting to not feel as daunting as it once did.  Ideally, if I can stick to my own self-imposed timeline, I hope to have JJD4 up and functional by March.  All of this contingent on me actually finishing it, of course, and cover art & editing schedules.  My intention is to do ebook on pretty much all platforms, and maybe do a print edition through Amazon's Createspace.  It won't be the same size as the first three books, because they don't offer a mass-market paperback size, and I fully admit that this makes me a little crazy.  They're supposed to match, dammit! Ah well, we take what we can get.

My lovely agent has read The Musicbox Girl, and given me some really great revision notes on it.  She's completely right in everything she said, I just have to wrap my brain around how to fix it.  Right now, that's not going to happen, because I'm trying to work on JJD4, and quite frankly, the writing is different enough that trying to do both at once might scramble my last two brain cells.

I've also sent Muse to the lovely agent, mostly to see if it's something she'd be interested in trying to sell, or if I should just start pondering self-publishing that too.  Honestly, I read through parts of it again, and the whole thing still gives me chills.  It's still one of the best things I've ever written (in my admittedly warped mind) and I'd like to see it available someday.

And, in case you missed it, Peacemaker is up for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  It's also up on Goodreads, if anyone wants to add it to their to-read list. No cover art yet, of course, but I'm hoping soon.  Do you realize that we're actually less than 6 months away from release on that one already??  Time flies when you're having fun.

Remember, Peacemaker will be ebook only at first.  If sales are good enough, they may release it in print later.  I've had several people lament that they don't have a Kindle or a Nook or whatever, but remember if you have a smart phone or a computer, the Kindle app is a free download, and you can read my book right on your phone!

So, current timelines are looking like this:
Autumn 2013 - copy edits on Peacemaker (actual deadline unknown)
November 1 - finish JJD4
Nov/Dec - editing & cover art for JJD4, and revising MBG
January 21, 2014 - Peacemaker release!
Jan/Feb/Mar 2014 - drafting Arcane West #2?
March-ish 2014 - JJD4 release!
Summer 2014 - drafting JJD5?

After that, everything's a moving target.  Heck, half the stuff ON the list is still a moving target.  Ah well.  This is the good life, right?

Goals Revisited

I got to looking at my goals post from way back when, and y'know, I'm really not so horribly off track.

Goal 1 - Finishing Night of Fire and Ash. Check.

Goal 2 - Write JJD4 - temporarily on hold

Goal 3 - Speak at RT.  Done!  Love love loved it.

Goal 4 - Choose/write a new project - well, I kinda DID that already, with The Musicbox Girl, so that one's done, just out of order.

Goal 5 - Publish JJD4 - Still a goal, just pushed back a bit further than originally thought.

So really, what does the rest of my 2013 look like?

Peacemaker - My edits on Peacemaker are due July 1st, assuming of course that I get my edit letter in good time. (I feel pretty safe making that assumption)

JJD4 -  Come July 1, provided that Peacemaker is turned in on time, JJD4 becomes my priority.  Planning on having it done by November 1.  Four months should be sufficient enough time.  After that, I want to spend November/December getting it edited and the cover design and formatting done in preparation for hitting the button to make it live.

And holy cow,that brings me into 2014 already.

At some point in January (don't know the precise date yet), Peacemaker will hit.  Kinda want to spend the month of January dealing with that, but I also want to spend it plotting out the second Arcane West novel.  My current plan with that series is a trilogy, but who knows?  Never say never or something.

Spring of 2014 could conceivably be spent writing AW2, and pimping JJD4 with a spring release.  Then, JJD5 will need to start being a thing, and... I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

And just like this year, my best laid plans could come to a screeching halt due to unexpected (but hopefully still good) events.

It feels good, though, to have a plan.  It may not even be a great plan, but at least it's a plan.

Post RT Stupor

To begin, let me say that not only was this my first RTConvention, but it was also my first convention at all.  I mean sure, I attend the local anime con once a year (Naka-Kon) but in all honesty, I’m a day-passer, and I mostly go to cruise the vendor room.  So this was my very first all out, balls-to-the-wall convention.

And it was AWESOME!  I would gladly go again, if my finances could afford it.  (That was the advantage of it being here in KC this year, I could attend and not worry about travel/lodging costs.)

First, everyone there was so freakin’ NICE!  Authors, readers, aspiring writers, publishing folk, I didn't meet a single person who wasn't completely welcoming and helpful.  Especially after they found out it was my first con, ‘cause I think I looked a bit lost at times, and someone always came along to adopt me.  (Con lesson learned:  If you stand in one place long enough, someone cooler than you will come along and tell you what to do with your life)

Second, the panels there were very interesting!  I attended quite a few on self-publishing, given my plans for the JJD series, and I learned a whole lot.  I’m not sure all the advice applies to me and my specific situation, but it still gave me some very interesting things to mull over.  As one presenter said, there are many roads to Oz, and Oz means different things for different people.  I attended a few craft panels too, usually because someone I knew was either attending or presenting, and I always felt like I learned something. 

The panel I was actually on was great!  First off, I was up there with Jackie Kessler, Caitlin Kittredge, Margaret Stohl and Jeaniene Frost, and the amazing Nicole Peeler was moderating.  Seriously, if you haven’t read any of these fabulous ladies, you and I can no longer be friends.  Run out and rectify that situation immediately.  We had a huge crowd, they were involved, they asked awesome questions, and I didn't make an ass of myself.  Always a plus.  In reality, I would happily do panels again, it was HUGELY fun.

When there wasn't an actual event going on (or I just needed time to decompress for a bit), I spent hours just sitting and talking to people.  It really is true that almost everyone will pass through the hotel bar at some point or another.  I met a good chunk of the League of Reluctant Adults in person for the first time, and hung out with John Scalzi who is just sweet and charming and super-duper nice.  I also made some really great new friends (and found new books that I’ll just HAVE to read), just by striking up conversations with total strangers.  Anyone who knows me in real life knows that that in and of itself was an accomplishment.  Also, no one seemed to care if I wandered around a bit starstruck.  I fully admit, I fangirled all over some folk. (I told Diana Rowland I loved her.  Seriously.) 

There were multi-published, NYT bestselling authors there, standing next to debut authors with one book out, standing next to self-publishers, standing next to aspiring writers, standing next to readers who just want to love the books.  Do you know how cool it was to just walk past groups of people sitting in the lobby and overhear in-depth discussions of plot devices, or current books, or character tropes, or…?  It was writing/reading paradise. 

So what did it all mean?

No idea.  Other folk have sounded off on things about the con, and since they’ve been to more than one, I’ll leave it to them to make the really deep judgments on it.  However, I know that I had a really great time, made a ton of new friends, and learned so much my brain is still buzzing with it.  It was totally worth the money I spent to attend, and I’m really envious of everyone who is already planning to attend next year in New Orleans.

I have enacted what I call the “lottery ticket caveat”.  If I win the lottery between now and next year’s RT, I will definitely be there.  Other than that, it’s pretty iffy, and I will watch Twitter with great longing while it’s going on.

Sound the Trumpets!

After much waiting and teasing and hinting and wailing of gnashing of teeth and sacrificing of chickens...


I am thrilled to announce that my fantabulous agent has sold Peacemaker to InterMix, for publication in e-book format in January 2014!!!

The book will come out in e-book first, and then if sales warrant, actual print copies later.  I have to say, this whole digital thing is moving so fast!  We're already less than a year from publication, and they've had cover meetings, and worked on the cover copy and... It's amazing!

I truly love the world I've built in Peacemaker, and I hope the readers will love it too.  I'm super excited to let you all explore it with me.

Peacemaker

An Arcane West Novel

Caleb Marcus is a Peacemaker, a roving lawman tasked with maintaining the peace and bringing control to magic users on the frontier. A Peacemaker isn’t supposed to take a life—but sometimes, it’s kill or be killed…

After a war injury left him half-scoured of his power, Caleb and his jackalope familiar have been shipped out West, keeping them out of sight and out of the way of more useful agents. And while life in the wild isn’t exactly Caleb’s cup of tea, he can’t deny that being amongst folk who aren’t as powerful as he is, even in his poor shape, is a bit of a relief.

But Hope isn’t like the other small towns he’s visited. The children are being mysteriously robbed of their magical capabilities. There’s something strange and dark about the local land baron who runs the school. Cheyenne tribes are raiding the outlying homesteads with increasing frequency and strange earthquakes keep shaking the very ground Hope stands on.

Something’s gone very wrong in the Wild West, and it’s up to Caleb to figure out what’s awry before he ends up at the end of the noose—or something far worse…

 

Where's Waldo: RT Version

It's here, it's finally here!

RT 2013 has arrived, folks, and I will be attending my very first ever writer/reader convention!

So, of course, the question on everybody's mind (not least of all mine) is "Where can I find the amazing, stupendous, breathtaking author, K.A. Stewart?" Well, I dunno, but if you see her, point her my way.

For the most part, I'll be attending the con like any of you. I'll be going to panels, I'll maybe poke my head into a few parties, stuff like that. I had some spiffy bookmarks made up just for the occasion, and if you happen to bump into me, you can probably get one.

However, if you are really set on seeing me specifically, like, all professional and stuff, here are a few places you can find me:

Thursday
10:00 a.m. - Room Empire A, Mezzanine Level
URBAN FANTASY - A Man in a Woman's World
This will be me and a veritable plethora of other amazing authors talking about what it's like to write male characters, as a woman. (I think it's too late to point out to them how very hard I fail at being a girl in the first place)

Saturday
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Exhibit Hall
A GIANT BOOK FAIR What it says on the tin. This a HUGE thing, folks, with hundreds of authors signing books. Even if you couldn't afford to attend the entire con, this event is open to the public for $5 admission. You can bring books from home to be signed, or purchase some on site. (Please see the website for the rules on bringing your own)  ((Fair warning, I may or may not be dressed as Batman.  Just sayin'.))

 6:30 p.m. -7:45 p.m.
FAN-Tastic Day Party Chicago/New York/San Francisco Room
My official time to be at this event is 6:30-7:00, so if you wanna just come and hang out, I should be around!


There are many other events going on for RT, and as of now, I have very few concrete plans.  I am at the mercy of my hubby's work schedule, though, in that I may have to go retrieve my child on some evenings, and do kid-friendly type things outside the con itself.  Mostly, I'm looking forward to meeting some new folk, to catching up with old friends, and just spending a few days with people who love books as much as I do.


Oh, and also... If you can find me, and if you're really super nice... I might just tell you my secret news I've been teasing about. ;)

((Don't worry, non-con-going people, I'll be announcing it here on the blog soon too, so stay tuned!))

Naughty Secrets!

I find it hard to put posts up here when I don't have news, and I find it even harder to put posts up here when I have news but I'm not allowed to TELL anyone yet!!!  Argh!!!

Suffice to say, I have news, but I can't tell you.  Neener.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I'll get the okay to explain.  Most likely mid-to-late April.

In the meantime, I keep chipping away at The Musicbox Girl.  It's actually going really well!  This week alone, I've written almost 5,000 words, and that's just on my one-hour lunch breaks at the Real Job(tm).   Part of that comes from having a really solid outline.  I got lucky with this one.  (Now I just have to hope that it's actually as awesome on paper as I'm thinking it is.)  I'm almost to the halfway point, both storywise and word-count-wise.  It's always so nice when those two things match up.  Nothing worse than getting to your halfway point in the story, and realizing that you're only like 10K words into the book.  Oops. 

My goal is still to have this done before the RT Convention at the beginning of May.  I wanna go into the con with nothing to do for a few days but hang out with some other writer friends that I've never actually met in real life, and just be writerly and social. 

After RT, my plan, once again, is to go back to JJD4, though I know of a few things that are going to delay me, probably through the last part of June. (further explanation forthcoming once I get permission.  See above.)  I know now that I can't get JJD4 published this year, not if I want it to be the best that it can be, but I am hoping early in 2014. 

It's driving me nuts that I'm going to go all of 2013 without having a book out.  I feel like I'm going to turn invisible and just fade away from people's memories, and then no one will care what book I have out next, or IF there's a book out next.  I know it's not entirely true, but it's making me antsy.

I kinda feel like the end of the Breakfast Club, "Don't you forget about me...!"

Yeah, I'm that old.

((The title is totally a WoW reference, btw, and nothing to do with anything actually naughty.  Though, I'm interested to see what kind of spambots hit me up for this one))

Do you hear the sound of screeching brakes?

Just when I think I know what the heck I'm doing, it all goes wonky on me.

Here I was, just working on JJD4, minding my own business... Got some words in, got a great idea for a new first chapter...  Starting to really get back into the swing of Jesse's brain again.

And then I get the little "bing!" on my phone that says I have email.

Well who could that be, says I?

It's my lovely agent!  She's lovely!  This is why I call her my lovely agent!

The email was in regards to The Musicbox Girl.  ((Previously, on "This is my life", I sent the first three chapters of The Musicbox Girl to my lovely agent who is lovely, because she liked the idea so much.  /end flashback))  Judging by the amount of all capital letters and imperative commands to finish this right now!, I think she likes it.

So once again, JJD4 is on hold.

While I am thrilled that my lovely agent who is lovely is so excited about my new project, I also feel a bit guilty for continually pushing Jesse to the wayside.  Poor guy.  He's gonna develop a complex.

Needless to say, this is going to toss any semblance of personal deadlines I had RIGHT out the window.

Ah well.  We improvise.

Because I like to tease you...

Several things going on right now.

First off, I got the chapters of The Musicbox Girl delivered to my amazing agent last week.  She hasn't had time to read them over yet, but I hope when she does that they're all she imagined them to be. (Prior to this, she'd only seen my notes on the idea, which are admittedly rambling and disjointed.  Seriously, someday, I'll post some of my notes files on novels for you guys to see, and you will marvel at how I ever managed to make it into something coherent.)

Second off, I was supposed to switch to working on JJD4 this week, but so far I've only managed to finalize what I think the title is going to be.  Letting it percolate in my brain a bit, and when I'm sure, I may go ahead and commission the cover art, so that I could debut that at the RT Convention in May.  Thinking, maybe having some bookmarks or something to give away with the new cover on it.  (would probably do some kind of giveaway here too, for those of you who can't come to RT obviously)  If any of y'all have any ideas in that area about swag you'd like to have, let me know!  I'm new to this end of the authoring.

Third off, there's been some other movement on other things this past week.  Can't tell you anything, because officially, nothing has happened yet.  But I've made some crucial decisions, and I'm really feeling pretty good about them.  Can't wait until I can fill you all in on the details.

Back to JJD4:  I had said previously that I had about 7K words done on it, but as I started reading back through things, I realized that what I have as the current chapter 1 just isn't going to work.  My first chapters are always flashbacks of some kind, and while the one I was writing is good, and pertinent, it's just not going to work out.  I think I'll finish it anyway, and probably post it as a freebie closer to time to release JJD4.  Just something to whet the appetite.

So, that knocks me back down to about 5K words.  Not a big blow, but less than I'd had.  Real life keeps interfering with my writing time, so this week has largely been a bust.  I'll have to make it up as I go.  Still want this done by May 1 (new revised deadline), before RT.  That's the point where I'll have to start figuring out paying for editing, etc.

I will say, the self-publishing concept still really intimidates me, but I think it's going to be like so many other things in life.  Once I get through it, it's going to be way better than I'd feared, and I'll never understand why I was so anxious about it in the first place.

Did Not See That One Coming...

Well, my intentions of getting started on JJD4 (which MAY have a title, if I can mull it over a little bit more) will be delayed about another week, but for good reasons.

At least, I think they're good reasons.

See, a while before Christmas, I sent my lovely and gorgeous agent a quick synopsis of a project I'd dreamt up...oh... Back at the end of summer, maybe?  Maybe longer ago than that?  Anyway...

She emailed me today to say that she LOVED it, and would I please write the first 50 pages so she can see about finding someone else who LOVES it too.

So, this weekend, I'll be hashing out about 50 pages (roughly 12,500 words, or 3 chapters) of something I'm calling The Musicbox Girl. 

Y'know, it's funny, this one was totally on the back burner for me, wasn't even thinking about it.  But just knowing that someone else is excited about it makes me all excited about it too!  Whee!  Snoopy dance!  Kermit arms!

Ahem.

Anyway, that's my goal for the rest of this week/upcoming weekend.

I'm excited!  Did I mention that?

Goal Number 1 - Check

Well, four days late, but I finished the edits/three new chapters of Night of Fire and Ash and got those sent off to betas.  Breaking in some new betas on this one, too, so I have more thank yous to dish out.

I doubt that I say it enough, but none of my books would be what they are without the hard working betas that volunteer to read and offer feedback.  They don't get paid, except in effusive praise, and on one occasion a pound cake, I think.  But they are crucial to my writing process.

Naturally, I'm a teeny weensy bit late starting JJD 4, but I'm not stressing about it yet.  Honestly, finishing NoFA was very liberating, even though the majority of it was already written. (Fun Trivia:  NoFA was my NaNoWriMo project back in 2009)  I proved to myself that I can still edit, I can still write.  I don't think I realized how much my year hiatus had really affected me, until I felt the weight of finishing something, anything, lift off my shoulders.

So, between now and April 1, I'll be working on JJD 4.  This will involve not only the writing of it, but coming up with a title, and maybe sorting through some cover artists to get an idea of what it's going to cost me to make this thing beautiful for you guys.

In all honesty, I will most likely not make the April 1 deadline I've given myself, but that's ok, because I really wanted it done before the RT Convention which takes place May 1-5.  I'll be speaking on a panel there, and signing books at the big shindig on Saturday, so I'm hoping to see some folks there!  Since I only have one panel to do, I'll be spending the rest of my time there attending events just like all of you, so don't be afraid to come up and say hi.  It's my first con, so I might hug.  Just fair warning.

After that, the rest of my year gets more hypothetical.  A lot of it depends on book deals (will there be one?  What book? When do they want it?  Etc.), and general real life chaos.  My ideal scenario would be to take a month to edit whatever project I've managed to sell (no doubt for 1 gajillion dollars (hey, I'm talking ideal here)) and then dive back into something new.  I've got a new idea that's been dancing around in the back of my head lately, and I might dive into that.

So, there's my life in a nutshell.  (Or nut house... Too close to call)